


The Best Of You

by IamIronfan



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Domestic Avengers, Minor Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Multiverse, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Protective Avengers, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-25 15:41:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22498489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IamIronfan/pseuds/IamIronfan
Summary: While on his nightly patrol Peter Parker stumbles across someone he would have stayed far away from had he known he was meeting a man with powers to rival Doctor Strange. The end result is a forced trip into a different reality, one he's not sure how to leave. There he meets a very different Tony Stark. A very different everything in fact. Meanwhile Something sinister is taking place in the multiverse while inexplicably and inconveniently Peter has grown attached to the new world he's stumbled into.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 7
Kudos: 54





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi... so yes, I know I already have a couple stories going and I promise I'm working on them! I just had this idea and for once I actually mapped out the story before starting it (usually I just wing it and then wind up with writers block)  
> So! If you're a hardcore comic fan who likes Fanfics to really play by the rules, this might not be your thing. My knowledge of how the Multiverse works canon wise is slim to none and honestly I'm not going to beat myself up over making sure it is canon. I mean come on guys, Endgame is a thing! If they can do loosely based, messy time travel in the biggest film of all time then I can play with the multiverse in my own way damn it ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ 
> 
> So anyways enjoy! let me know whatcha think :)

Tonight was one of those nights where Peter just couldn’t shake the feeling that he had made the wrong choice turning down that spot Mr. Stark had offered him on the Avengers team. It certainly wasn’t a decision he had made lightly, and mostly he still felt as if he’d done the right thing until he finished school, but damn the slow nights when he wanted to get his hands dirty really drove him up the wall. He smiled to himself under his mask, as he literally, not just figuratively, climbed up the side wall of a building. 

It was a friday night which should have been prime time for bad guy busting, but alas it was nearly 2 am now and he hadn’t so much as found a drunken fight to break up outside even the rowdiest of bars he’d swung past on patrol.

He probably should have made his way back home a while ago, but doing that was never easy when he knew Mr. Stark was checking up on Karen’s logs regularly and there would be nothing in there that would remotely interest the man. Truth was, he still wanted that spot on the Avengers team someday, and he was scared it would slip away again if his take down of the Vulture proved to be a one time deal. 

He was hungry to prove himself to not only Mr. Stark, but to the memory of Ben as well. Ben had been on his mind a lot lately, as he wished for nothing more than his Uncle’s opinion on what Peter should have really done when offered that spot. 

In his hopes to utilize his skills tonight, he’d wandered pretty far from home. Guilt bubbled up in his chest because he knew May would be upset if she knew he was deep in the Greenwich village all the way in Manhattan currently. 

May had taken the whole Spiderman reveal remarkably well all things considered. There had been a pretty big sit down between Tony, May, and himself but it had all blown over as well as it could have. She really only asked for Tony to look out for him more and that he himself stay relatively close to home while patrolling on his own. 

That had been easy enough at first but now that Spiderman was earning a reputation in Queens, crime had rather dwindled down a bit. Plus, May was on the early end of a long night shift at the hospital so what she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her. 

He was just about to start his journey back home when he finally saw something that peaked his interest. There was a huge building on Bleecker street that a man was currently circling around oddly. The building itself was odd as well, it looked something like a library or museum but it wasn’t marked as such. 

Slowly Peter landed on the roof of the structure nextdoor with a soft thump and watched as the strange man approached one of the side windows on the weird place. Peter’s head tilted to the side in surprise as he really took in the man. 

He was no stranger to weird stuff anymore, and it took a lot to take him by surprise these days, but the man was dressed most peculiar. Burglars usually dressed in all black and made attempts to hide their faces as best they could, but this man had done the total opposite. 

He had long, blonde hair that fell around his shoulders. He wasn’t wearing black at all but a deep maroon cloak the swished around in the evening wind. The material seemed to glow in the moonlight along with his sleek hair. The hood wasn’t even drawn in an attempt to look even slight inconspicuous. He stood tall with his shoulder back confidently, as if being caught was hardly a concern of his. 

_Smash._

The window to the building he was casing smashed out and Peter jumped in surprise, alarmed at how quickly it had happened, he hadn’t even seen anything hit it. Oh well, time to end it anyways. He swung down from his perch and landed on the cement behind the stranger. 

“Hey, so it’s pretty late at night to be doing remodeling.” He quipped as usual, only Blondie didn’t so much as twitch in surprise. Instead he calmly turned on his heel and faced Peter. 

“Ah, Spiderman, we meet again. Usually I have to find you but this is a treat.” The man said and his face was alive with amusement. His eyes were the most vivid green Peter had ever seen.

“I don’t know you.” Peter murmured because he was certain this was a face he wouldn’t easily forget. The man nodded as a smile appeared on his face. It seemed as if he was enjoying some kind of private joke with himself. 

“Oh yes, you’re quite right of course, you don’t know me yet. At least not in a way you could understand.” The man agreed and Peter felt his spider sense calling out to him now. 

_Danger._

He whipped his wrist out and shot a web towards the man, only before it could make contact the ground beneath his feet was shifting and knocked him back. He rolled over onto his side once he hit the ground with a thud, watching as the cement seemed to twist itself back into its original place. He hopped onto his feet and faced the man again in alarm. 

“How?” He asked rather stupidly, but he couldn’t help himself. This guy was using powers he was unfamiliar with, the closet he could compare them to were that of the Scarlet Witch. 

“You’re out of your league, Peter Parker.” The man simply said and Peter felt a thrill of panic hit him. The man’s eyes were amused, clearly aware that his knowledge of Peter Parker’s name was an important tool he’d acquired somehow. 

_He knew his name. Nobody should know his name when he had this mask on._

“Karen call Mr. Stark!” He blurted out because he was big enough to admit that he had clearly stumbled into something way over his head. He went to web sling away and back to his perch on top of the neighboring building again but before he could bricks dislodged themselves from the wall and flew into him at a high speed that knocked him against the wall from which they had come. Two of the stones pinned his wrists against the wall, grinding painfully into his wrists and securing him there. 

“I figured that would be the case. It usually is.” The man said, striding closer to Peter menacingly before clarifying. “You and Tony Stark.” 

Peter fought against his bounds as the panic intensified. His spider sense was screaming at him now to the point where it was only flustering him further rather than doing any good. As if he needed a reminder that this was clearly very bad. 

He’d caught a punch by the Winter soldier, crashed down with a plane and survived, a freaking building had fallen on him, but he couldn’t free himself from whatever magic or power this man was using to pin him there. 

“I have no idea what the hell you’re on about.” Peter murmured giving up the fight to free himself and instead focusing on waiting for Mr. Stark to hopefully be patched through to him. God it was so late at night though. He should have stayed in Queens. 

“You will soon enough.” 

Peter didn’t know what to say to the continued vague statements, well they were more like threats really. Luckily he was spared from thinking of something to say, because Tony was suddenly in his ear speaking.

“Parker? Why the hell are you still out patrolling this late? Karen also sent your vitals to me, and kid your heart rate is insane. What happened?” 

“Mr. Stark! I’m in Manhattan-” 

“We can’t have that.” Blondie said, cutting him off mid sentence. The bricks pinning him suddenly flew back. Stumbling to stand on his own he looked up just in time to see the man’s hand flying towards him. 

The hand hit him _hard_ in the chest, and just like that things were starting to change around him, twisting and spinning until he was totally powerless to whatever was happening to him. He couldn’t talk, he couldn’t move, he just kept falling back. 

-

Peter blinked rapidly as he came back to reality, alarmed that he had left it at all, and usure of the amount of time that had passed. It was still dark and as he jerked himself up into a sitting position he saw that he was lying on the pavement, still outside of the weird building that the man had been trying to rob. 

Jumping onto his feet he spun around in several full circles to try and locate the man whom had attacked him. Nobody was there though and his spider sense was no longer alerting him of anything. The only thing that seemed out of place, or rather back in place, was the window that was no longer shattered as it had been. 

“Karen? Can you get me through to Mr. Stark again, please?” Peter asked far from relieved. His AI didn’t answer though, static feedback didn’t even greet him.

“Karen?” He asked again, tapping the side of his mask where he knew the com was built into it. Nothing happened though. Apparently his whole suit was offline for some reason.

His unease was intensifying now and even though his spider sense was still absent he unexplainably still felt… off. 

He adjusted his web shooters on his wrist and aimed at the nearest street lamp knowing that even if most of his suit was disabled he could still manually operate those. Swinging from street lamp to street lamp and eventually building to building, he hit a rhythm and glided through the night sky as he headed for the Avenger’s facility. 

He wasn’t sure if Mr. Stark would be there but it was the best way to find someone who could get him through to him quickest. His nerves were so shot that he didn’t even feel too bad about going to Mr. Stark with a pretty big failure paired along with a broken suit. Blondie wasn’t some low tier bad guy… he’d exhibited some serious power. Worst of all though, he’d known his name. 

SMACK.

“Ugh” Peter groaned because he’d smacked right into the side of a building as he’d been caught totally off guard by something in the distance and forgotten that he was mid swing. Shaking it off, he climbed to the top of the building in which he’d just knocked his head on. 

In the distance he could see a giant letter A lighting up the night sky on the side of Stark Tower. Stark Tower which Tony had sold. Stark Tower that had been stripped of all it’s flashy exterior just hours ago. 

Okay, change of course. Peter swung towards it as quickly as he could, his heart positively hammering in his chest now. That wasn’t possible. 

He landed on the deck of the top of the tower ten minutes later. Immediately an alarm sounded which made him jump in shock. Okay, yep, clearly still inhabited. 

Several Iron Man suits flew down from who knows where. One grabbed his arm firmly in it’s metal grasp.

“You are not permitted to access this location. You are being detained.” The robotic voice said, devoid of any emotion.

“Let me go! I know Mr. Stark! Let me go!” He said in alarm, ripping his arm away and bending the metal of the suits arm in the process. 

“Stop!” A voice said, a human one this time, and a familiar one at that. Tony was running out on the deck, dressed in sweats and a tank top but a gauntlet on his arm was aimed at him nonetheless. 

“Mr. Stark! What the hell is happening? This place was totally stripped hours ago?” Peter said hurriedly, holding his arms up in mock surrender. Tony’s expression faltered and his arm with the gauntlet lowered slowly.

“Take off your mask.” Tony demanded, his voice incredibly serious.

“What? Why? Look I really need to talk to y-”

“Take off your mask!” Tony yelled, and Peter realized the man was not playing around. Something wasn’t right here either. Nothing about this night was right.

Slowly he pulled off his mask, unsure of what else to do in an attempt to neutralize the situation. After Blondie used his real name earlier, he felt almost naked without it right now while he was still out in the open. Stupid really, as they were hundreds of stories up in the air currently with no one for company besides some stray Iron Man suits that were still flanking Tony. Fresh air filled his lungs and he relished in it though… that was until he saw the look on Tony’s face. 

“Peter… Peter Parker?” Tony asked, his face full of disbelief and shock. 

“Well… yeah?” Peter asked in total confusion.

“You’re…holy shit, _you’re alive_?”


	2. Chapter 2

Some part of him, the far too hopeful for its own good part, had been clinging to the microscopic possibility that everything was going to be okay. He’d built it up in his mind that if he just got to Mr. Stark, then his mentor could fix the mess he’d found himself tangled up in. Tony while rough around the edges wasn’t a cruel person, and the sincerity of the shock on his face told Peter that he wasn’t messing around. 

Panic was flooding him now, and it was the kind of panic that once it started it was like a car that had a brick on the gas pedal with cut breaks. He tried to take deep breaths like he’d been trained to do, but he couldn’t get a grip.

“Hey, come on it’s going to be okay.” Tony said softly and Peter jerked his head up to face the man again. Tony made a display of taking the gauntlet off and setting it on the ground at his feet. With a wave of his arm the Iron Man suits flew off as well, leaving just the two of them unarmed atop the tower. 

“Nothing about this night is okay.” Peter whispered and his voice came out shaky and hoarse. 

“Let’s just talk about it, okay? We’ve clearly given each other a fright.” Tony reasoned and his voice was soft and slow in a clear attempt at coaching Peter through his all too apparent anxiety attack. Peter hadn’t remembered ever hearing Tony speak with such softness and vulnerability, all the hardness that was usually present was totally gone.

Peter looked at the man, really looked at him now, and his unease intensified. Mr. Stark was different but the changes were so minor he wondered if the average person could even catch them. The scar on his cheek from where Steve Roger’s had punched him was gone, his hair was shaggier, and his eyes were more… youthful? Was the possible? He didn’t really think so but that was the only way he could think of describing it.

“Where am I?” Peter asked and Tony furrowed his brow. 

“Avenger’s Tower… headquarters for the team. You’ve been here before.” Tony said slowly.

“This was Stark Tower and just a few hours ago it wasn’t even that. Y-you sold this building and you sure as hell wouldn’t let the team stay here.” Peter countered because he knew that was the truth. The wizard guy may have hit him hard but he had multiple memories of how Tony had sold this place. Something strange was happening, but his conviction that he wasn’t crazy was all that was holding him together. 

“Okay… let’s try something different, because clearly we’re not lining up.” Tony offered, his voice was laced with confusion but the suggestion was a kind one. 

“S-sure.” Peter murmured, still trying to control his breathing. 

“Can we talk about it inside… I don’t think it’s good for you to be out here.” Tony continued and Peter while hesitant nodded in agreement, following in Tony’s wake as he gestured for him to follow. 

They entered the tower through Tony’s personal door that he knew was meant for departure in an Iron Man suit. Once inside Peter blinked around at a fully furnished living quarters. Tony gestured to a couch and he gladly sunk into it, his legs aching from the shakes he’d had since wake up alone on the concrete in Manhattan.

Peter curled in on himself as Tony left and returned with a glass of water. His hands shook as he took it, but as he sipped at the cool liquid he savored the familiarity of something so simple yet unchanging as a refreshing drink of water. 

“When you’re ready can you tell me what happened?” Tony asked as he sat on the other end of the couch and watched him intently. He looked as if he were seeing some kind of anomaly. 

“I was on patrol like normal when I ended up in Greenwich Village in Manhattan. There was a man there, and I honestly thought it would be a simple home invasion I had to stop but it wasn’t simple at all. This guy… he had these powers, like out of Harry Potter or something, only Harry Potter is too tame. He could move things with his mind and in the end he hit me in the chest and I just kind of faded out.” Peter mumbled because once he started talking, in typical fashion he just couldn’t stop.

“What did he look like? A goatee and black hair?” Tony interrupted suddenly as his eyes sparked to life with an idea. His face fell when Peter shook his head however. 

“No. He was blonde, like crazy silver blonde.” Peter corrected because in his inner monologue he’d been calling the guy Blondie even. 

“Where were you before that though?” Tony asked softly, his voice betraying an underlying sadness. 

“I was at school… it’s a Friday. You should know that though.” Peter said tentatively and Tony frowned as he ran a hand through his messy hair. 

“This doesn’t make any sense.” Tony muttered in frustration. 

“You seemed surprised that I was… alive. When I got here. Why?” Peter asked finally because it had been eating at him since he’d been asked it. 

“Do you know Stephen Strange?” Tony asked and Peter only shook his head, annoyed because that wasn’t an answer to the question he’d asked. 

“Well I do. He’s this wizard slash doctor guy who practices magic, kind of like what you described. Only he’s good. I mean he’s annoyingly cryptic, but still he’s always been on our side when we’ve crossed paths. He came to us a week or so ago saying there was some kind of disturbance in the magic he practices and for us to keep our eyes out.” Tony explained and Peter felt a chill run through him.

“What kind of magic though? How can magic explain this?” Peter asked while gesturing lamely at himself. Tony hesitated, watching him closely with a strange expression.

“I’m not sure. I’m not good with this kind of thing. I’m good with math, numbers, and logic but this whole magic thing is beyond me. Dimensional type of stuff if I had to guess though. It seems as if you have come from a totally different world than mine.” Tony said slowly and Peter felt a thrill of excitement despite himself.

“Like a multiverse? That’s totally insane.” He blurted out, his head erupting with the possibilities of it all. Tony’s sober expression leveled him though, and reminded him that while cool in theory this was real life. __

_ Holy shit this was happening in real life. His life. _

“So you know a different Peter Parker, other than me? How can you be sure?” Peter asked but Tony’s expression remained sad. “I mean, you  _ knew _ ?” 

“The Peter Parker I knew died a month ago.” Tony confirmed and Peter was silent, unsure of what to say exactly but Tony trudged on excusing him from doing so. “It’s more than that though, the differences are subtle, but there nonetheless. You’re different from my worlds Peter Parker.” 

“What happened to him?” Peter asked, because his curiosity to know was intense. 

“He died as Spider Man, while on the job. His Aunt May died shortly after his uncle and he had a hard time after that. He didn’t know when to slow down, and he wasn’t one to take our help.” Tony explained his voice tired suddenly. The guilt he felt was apparent. 

Peter was quiet for a moment as he thought back to something Blondie had said  _ ‘I thought it might be that way, you and Stark, it usually is.’  _

It seemed as if Peter Parker and Tony Stark were destined to cross paths, and yet this rendition was so different from his own. May wasn’t even alive on this earth. He tried to stifle down his sadness at that by reminding himself that the Aunt May he knew and loved was still alive in her own timeline. Ugh worried sick though, of that he was sure. 

“I’m sorry that you had to deal with that.” Peter said softly but Tony immediately furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head.

“It’s not about me. I just wish I could have helped him. You on the other hand are still very much alive despite being misplaced. We’ve got to get you sorted out now.” Tony said firmly, clapping his hands together.

“What if I can’t find a way back home?” Peter whispered, voicing aloud the fear that had weighed heavy on his heart since the whole Multiverse theory was brought up. Maybe he was imagining it, but he swore he’d felt it before that even. Since waking up back on Bleecker street. Some how he had just  _ known _ that something was off. 

“Well you got here to begin with right? Surely that means we can get you back home.” Tony said firmly. “Tomorrow we will track down Strange. He’s supposed to be the sorcerer supreme, or whatever.” 

Peter bobbed his head thinking of Aunt May, Ned, and Mj back on his earth. How did time pass when displaced? Would enough time pass for them to notice his absence? How many different versions of earth were there, and why had he been sent here in the first place? 

“I guess I’m just afraid because that guy, the one who sent me here, he seemed to know me. My name and everything.” Peter confessed.

“We’ll figure this out. Do you trust me?” Tony asked and Peter looked up at the man who he thought he knew, yet technically didn’t really know at all. Something in him though, and call it intuition or whatever, just told him he could trust him. If anyone could get him back home, on any version of earth, it was Tony Stark. 

“I do. Thanks Mr. Stark.” Peter said gratefully but Tony shuddered.

“Ugh that makes me feel so damn old, just call me Tony okay?” 

“Okay.” Peter said and he even managed a small chuckle. 

“For now you need to sleep. You look beat, kid. Tomorrow morning we’ll need to brief the team, and then we can work on getting ahold of Strange.” Tony said standing up and tossing a throw blanket off a chair nearby at him. 

He had so many questions. The fact that there still seemed to be a team on this version of earth was a huge one. Tony had been gracious enough already though so Peter allowed him to leave for his own room with only a nod of his head. 

The lights dimmed and Peter laid back on the couch cushions, his head too full to even get close to calming down enough to drift into sleep. It was hard to rest when you knew you’d be waking up to a mess that was nowhere near being fixed. 


End file.
